﻿Tight End ﻿~ Blake Bell ~ Oklahoma Sooners 6063/252

Regarding Tight Ends

"Tight End"is a term I apply only to the Players with a Frame built for the classic "In Line" Tight End ~ an Hybrid Player who serves as a combination Blocker and Receiver. Some Tight Ends, like Jimmy Graham, only line up on the Line of Scrimmage occasionally, and some do very little receiving, but they are, optimally, proficient at both.

The Prototype would be about 6050/260 or so.

The "Tight Ends" whose Frames are better suited to be deployed in running Routes from all over the Formation, and who aren't especially renowned for their Blocking ~ though many are adept Chippers ~ I refer to as Flex Ends.The Prototype would be about 6030/245 or so.Those of either type who present legitimate Dual Threats ~ who can make a genuine Impact either as a Blocker or as a Receiver ~ are impossible to predict from Snap to Snap, and this renders them extraordinarily dangerous.

Conceivably even more dangerous and dynamic than either of these two types is one of my pet Positions: The WingBacks. I employ this ancient FootBall Term, one still in active use in many High Schools and Colleges, to refer to a Role so ethereal as to be almost imaginary: an Hybrid FullBack & Flex End ~ a Super Hybrid, if you will.

The Prototype would be about 6000/250 or so.

The WingBack, optimally, would be a guy capable of Lead Blocking in the Run Game, Pass Blocking in the Passing Game, or splitting out and running Pass Patterns from SlotBack, Slot End, Split End, or Flanker. He could line up at any of those spots, or on either Wing, on the Line, or in the BackField. He could even go In Motion or run the Ball!!

Such a versatile, dynamic Player could have an explosive Impact on the Competitive LandScape.

The Game has reached a point in its Tactical History that is perfect for such a Player.It awaits only for the NFL to realize the Opportunity.

Because Tight Ends, in the particular categorical sense in which I employ the term, are optimally genuine 50/50 Hybrids, I focus equal attention on Attributes both of Linemen and of WideOuts in evaluating their Skill Sets:

Lineman AttributesPower: Above all: Core Power. Torso Power is important, but Core Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. All the upper body Strength in the world will still fail if you simply can't dig in your heels. But Core Power enables an Offensive Lineman to project Power in the Running Game and to reject Power in the Passing Game.

Agility: Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and above all: Fluidity or Core Agility. Core Agility is even more essential to sustained good Health ~ and to sustained good FootBall ~ than Core Power. The ability to react with Serpentine smoothness is a tremendous asset in all Aspects of the Game, and certainly in the Hand to Hand Combat that characterizes Trench Warfare. All the Power in the World goes only so far if you're stiff and lumbering out there.

Intangibles:Processing Speed and Motor. Processing Speed or Diagnostic Velocity is about how quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to how the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape effects Blocking Schemes, and Motor is about Endurance and Drive: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:Power

Separation: Getting Open. This encompasses Combat Skills & Fluidity to beat Press, Acceleration out'f the Blocks, Fluidity and Ricochet in navigating Traffic, Route Running Precision, the capacity to deceive Defenders, and Field Vision for Timing Seems and Open Zones. All other Aspects of a WideOut's Job Description are dwarfed by this one.Catch Point Capacity: In Transit or Contested: Hands, WingSpan, Vertical Agility, Combat Skills, and Timing.

Navigation: How well he Navigates the Field after the Catch: Power, Agility, Acceleration, Long Speed, and Field Vision.Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:Separation

Power: Marginal. He's in great Condition, but of course he's only just a Year ago switched from Years of QuarterBacking to playing Tight End, so he's only just now starting to develop Core Power.

Agility: Exceptional. Mediocre Acceleration, but tremendous Fluidity.

Combat Skills: Not Bad!! I'll got with Competitive, but he improved dramatically over the course of the Year!!

Intangibles: Extraordinary. His Field Vision transformed from Marginal to exceptional over the course of one Campaign, his Motor is phenomenal, and by the end of the Year the Game was clearly slowing down for'm.

WideOut Attributes

Separation: Deficient but with Potential. Bell's Short Speed is no better than'is Long Speed, his Ricochet lacks Explosion of any kind, and his Route Running is unsurprisingly raw...But the reason that I believe he's got Potential to become Competitive and possibly even impressive in this Aspect of the Game is because his Fluidity is Serpentine Smooth, because I saw several Plays ~ and more frequently as the Year went on ~ that indicated that his knowledge of QuarterBacking was translating into Timing & Routing...and because I believe he'll work his Ass off.

Catch Point Capacity: Impressive and rapidly speeding towards Outstanding. His Tracking & Timing is still developing, of course, but his Focus is remarkable, he's absolutely Fearless, and his Hands are excellent.

Navigation: Mediocre, though this too should improve. His lack of Short Speed, Long Speed, and Ricochet plays here, of course, as does his developing Field Vision, but he's big, he's strong, and he's Serpentine Smooth, baby!!

Blake Bell Prospectus

What an impressive kid.

And what a Pleasure it was to watch as Blake Bell's Command of the Nuances of the Tight End's Game grew by leaps and bounds over the course of the 2014 Campaign, as he evolved from Stumbling, Bumbling Novice to...Competent.

That's no Joke. There're a thousand moving parts in every Game, and for Bell to develop into an impressive Blocker and legitimate Weapon in the Passing Game within 4 Months was extremely impressive.

He is by all accounts an incredibly hard Worker, and his rapid Transformation in all Aspects of the Tight End Game over the course of the Year tells me everything I need to know about his Diagnostic Velocity and Processing Speed.

"Trajectory > A mercurial Formula that blends Talent, Speed of Improvement, and the Probability of continuing that Speed of Improvement, based on perceived Intelligence, Passion, and Work Ethic: Talent x Intelligence x Drive."

Mind you: I'm not seeing Oceans of Talent, here. There is a serious deficiency of Core Power to overcome if he's ever going to win Starter's Snaps as a classic Tight End. And he is no man's version of Explosive in the Passing Game.

But he's clearly extremely smart, he works like a Dog, and and he's got some Sweet Serpentine Fluidity.

I believe that he's going to listen to his Coaches, listen to his Strength & Conditioning Coaches, work his Ass off, and Beef Up as much as his Frame will allow, and develop a competitive level of Drive Power and Anchoring Strength.

I believe he's going to drill and study as much as it takes to master his Combat Skills over the next few Years.

And I believe he's going to bust his Ass to develop his Route Running and enhance his already outstanding Catching Skills, and I believe that he's going to earn the Trust of his Offensive Coordinator and his QuarterBack.

I don't especially believe that he's likely to develop into an Hall of Famer.

But in neither that Regard nor in any other is my Money gong to be against this kid.

Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!

Yank Rank: Contender ~ SemiSleeper!!

﻿Market Value

5th ~ 7th Round﻿

﻿Yankee Grade

4th/5th Round﻿

Please do Note: This and all Evaluations issued by this Site are produced by a ludicrously unqualified Amateur, privy to not even the tiniest fraction of Coach's Tape, Scouting Expertise, Face to Face Interviewing, Experience, or Inside Information enjoyed by the Professionals. As such, anything put forth is certainly misinformed, euphonious, derivative Tripe, and should be rejected out'f hand and indeed shunned by all men and women of Good Will!! I'm trying to discern Power, Agility, Combat Skills, and far more abstract, esoteric Concepts such as Processing Speed and Motor, and I'm trying to do so based almost entirely on a fascinating fusion of Tape, Combine Numbers, and Pro Days, while trying to attenuate my findings based on Allowances for Competition Level, Scheme, Concept, Context, and, above all: Trajectory!!

This is not is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning: Caveat Emptor!!